The Good, the Bad and The Surprises

I am not an idiot. The fact that I feel compelled to write that, maybe leaves the statement open to some debate. I knew full well when I began once again the challenging landscaping/gardening journey that it was going to be a jazz dance...an exhausting jazz dance with my poor choreography. I had mentioned the Perennial Plant dance that takes place in the fall when you find some plants overtaking an area, or needing more sun, or better drainage or a better contrasting plant or just a better place to florish. I have about 10 15 plants that I will need to move this fall. I planted some too close to the house as a temporary space before the deer fence went up. Some are in deep shade that I did not expect and others have already outgrown their space.

The good this year was the lovely purple flox that has bloomed for more than a month, the chaste bush that has already grown the size of a small tree and was in full bloom, the zinnias that have large and colorful blooms, the Celosia which had every single seed germinate until I was sticking plants in pots, in the ground and everywhere.

My chaste plant.

Celosia attracting lots of pollinators.

Good old fashioned zinnias.

A nice pink zinnia just begging to be put in a bouquet.

Even the green zinnia are attractive.

The surprise issue here is that I never realized Celosia grew four feet high! Sort of overpowers that little red pot doesn't it?

The same was true of the zinnias on the east side of the house. In deep shade a good part of the day, they grew over four feet in the 2 foot high raised bed. One has to be a basketball player to really appreciate their beauty.

This was a little surprise as it was supposed to be a very different coneflower when I bought it! The photo on the pot looked like a dahlia...a very new and exciting form and PINK! Since I cannot find the plant I thought I bought on the Internet, maybe it doesn't exist. Something is eating the leaves of this plant, so it is soon to not exist as well!

The surprise above is that the photo was taken the last week of July with temps breaking the 90's and the purple pansies were still blooming in this pot. It is on the north side of the house in mostly shade.

Unfortunately I had to post one ugly...my poor sunflowers. 30 plants all chewed or knocked down and only two blossoms trying to put on a show as they lay flat against the earth. Of course, there was NOT a lot of sun and there was lots of rabbits, ground hogs, etc.